Before the founding of the Tyler Jacobson academy, principal-to-be Kuriko Hatsuhara and the other scientists and military personnel who created the Academy set out to craft a system that would allow the students to develop their powers in the most effective manner. The traditional school system that separated students by age assumed that everyone was on equal grounds - most human 9 year old children were at a similar stage of development physically and mentally, and thus a curriculum could be created that stimulates them properly. The same wasn't true for the Powers, though - despite the fact that some shared ages, they still had varying abilities and levels of control over them. For example, a 13 year old pyrokinetic that had little to no control over his powers couldn't be placed in the same class as a 13 year old who could fly and had mastered her skill, even though they were the same age. Separating them by powers or even power types also wouldn't work, as there were more abilities than there were stars in the sun, with more being discovered every day. Finally, Hatsuhara settled on dividing the students into three major classes, each containing several different groups that would occasionally merge for larger exercises. The classes were aimed at teaching the students how to use their powers most effectively, in a real world context. Someone with super strength wouldn't be expected to do the same tasks or enter the same situations as someone with invisibility powers, after all. The classes are:

VALIANTS - Those are the heroes with the most "grandiose" powers - flight, super strength, super speed, transformations, etc. They're the metas that would thrive if sent to the front lines of a conflict, which is pretty much exactly what they're being trained for. If a war broke out, or if aliens invaded or someone (who may or may not work for Microsoft) "accidentally" created a malevolent AI in the form of a camera attached to a videogame console that began to replicate and upgrade itself at an accelerated rate, the Valiants would be the ones who would be sent to deal with it head-on. As a result, they're also going to be the ones who receive the most public attention, and as such need to learn how to behave in the spotlight. Being the face of metahumans everywhere, they just can't afford the luxury of being anything but heroic and virtuous in the public's eyes. Aside from fighting, the Valiants are also taught things such as damage control, evacuation strategies, disaster response, etc. Examples: Superman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, The Hulk

SENTINELS - Not everybody can have cool powers like indestructibility or super strength. Sometimes you're stuck with speaking all languages, or invisibility, or hacking skills. These powers, while certainly pragmatic, aren't going to win any wars. What's an invisible guy going to do against 50 robots with machine guns, anyway? That's where the Sentinel program comes in. Unlike the Valiants, whose groups are rather large (about 7-8 people), Sentinel groups tend to be limited to about 4-5 people who complement each other's abilities. They'd generally consist of a field leader, a support-type who feeds the team information and keeps them in contact, an infiltrator, a healer and a bruiser. The basic configuration might change a bit, and people assigned to certain roles may not always have the abilities to fit them to a T (for example, a "healer" could also be someone who creates protective shields) - the important part is that the team is always - always - created in such a way so that it can be effective in practically any situation. While the Valiants are meant to be the infantry, the Sentinels are the spec ops. Their main purpose is to use their pragmatic skills to perform missions where a highly publicized superhero may not be the best option. Examples: Oracle, Deadpool, Captain America, Nightwing

CENTURIONS - The Valiants and the Sentinels, despite whatever mission they may have assigned, are undoubtedly good people. They're well-balanced, well-adjusted, loyal to their school and their country and generally expected not to do anything rash or stupid. The same is not true for the Centurions, though. Whether they're punks, delinquents, small-time criminals or just have powers that are very dangerous or hard to control, the Centurions are considered the "at risk" kids of the Academy, the ones who have the ability and potential to break bad and use their powers for personal gain rather than for the great good. Their training can be described as a "best of both worlds" between what's being taught to the Valiants and the Sentinels - they're being taught virtue, damage control and media presence alongside team work, pragmatism and practicality. No one knows what their role is going to be yet - the main focus of the Centurions is to simply make sure that the kids don't stray from the straight path. This principle is even in their name - the Centurions were the leaders of the Roman army, which is the ideal that the metas are supposed to strife for. In order to help them, some of the best and brightest Valiants and Sentinels are transferred to the Centurions as Overseers.Examples: Harley Quinn, Connor Kent, X-23, Hazmat